Heralded as one of the most important research programs about Roman epigraphy, economy, and commerce today, Monte Testaccio combines the efforts of two universities and ArchaeoSpain to process the pottery shards from an artificial mount 45 meters (135 feet) high created by centuries of discarded amphorae – many of which still bear the markings of the contents and the exporters who transported them. In ancient times, amphorae were the main containers used for the transportation and storage of goods. They were massively produced because of their low cost, and were usually destroyed once they reached their final destination because it was easier to make a new one than to clean and reuse an old one. Between the 1st and the 3rd centuries, a spectacular number of amphorae were imported into Rome from around the Empire, broken, and dumped at a specific location in Rome near the Tiber River. Over time, they formed Monte Testaccio (“Broken Pot Hill”), an artificial mound of testae and crockery 45 meters (135 feet) high and covering a city block.

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